Marco Dane
Marcus Aurelius Corelli "Marco" Dane is a fictional character originated on the American soap opera One Life to Live. The role was played by actor Gerald Anthony from its debut in 1977 through 1986, and from 1989 until 1990. Anthony crossed over in the role on sister soap opera General Hospital in 1992 as Marco, remaining in the role through 1993. ''One Life to Live'' Storylines "Marco was my pimp" In 1977, Karen Wolek , fiancée to Llanview Hospital chief of staff Dr. Larry Wolek, is planning for her impending nuptials when ex-boyfriend Marco Dane arrives in Llanview. Fearful that Larry would not marry her if he were to learn about the confidence tricks and embezzlement schemes she participated in with Marco before her arrival in town, she agitated at Marco's presence. Karen and Larry marry without Marco divulging Karen's secret past, while Marco planned to blackmail her into another business venture instead. In search for employment, Dorian Lord hires Marco as a personal assistant, briefly engaging in a romantic affair with him. , 1978]] Marco engages in constant schadenfreude in Karen's anxiety over the possibility of the con man telling Larry of all the sordid details of their prior criminal behavior. With the arrival of the goddaughter of Viki Lord Riley, Tina Clayton, Marco opens up a brothel while masquerading it as a photography studio. Finally establishing a business venture in Llanview, Marco forces Karen to become one of his prostitutes in exchange for his silence on their past dealings. After Marco takes clothed photographs of naive, teenaged Tina, he edits the images to make them appear as if Tina posed nude. When Marco publishes the photos of Tina, a livid Viki confronts a nonchalant Marco who concedes to none of Viki's accusations. Newspaper publisher Viki proceeds with a pursuing an exposé in her family newspaper, The Banner, about Dane's doings. While investigating Marco, Viki starts to suspect Karen of cuckolding her former brother-in-law Larry in multiple extramarital affairs. Growing stressed at keeping the secret of her sexual exploits to herself, when Viki confronted Karen with her suspicions, Karen admits to the affairs and divulges her forced prostitution by Marco to Viki. Simultaneously empathetic to Karen's plight and livid with Marco's lurid behaviors, Viki proceeded to share and publish the story of Marco's business dealings with the help of her husband and editor-in-chief, JJoe Riley. Before the story could be published, Marco finds the murdered corpse of his brother, Dr. Mario Corelli (Anthony). Marco soon devises a plan to assume the identity of his dead brother in an effort to frame Viki for his apparent murder. Known for her recurrent bouts with multiple personalities (most notably, "Niki Smith"), Viki's apparent motive of revenge for the damaged reputations of her dear Tina and close friend Karen leads Llanview Police Lieutenant Ed Hall (Al Freeman, Jr.) to arrest the town heroine. Viki is later indicted and charged with the murder of Marco, unbeknownst to anyone Marco had an identical twin brother. When Viki is put on trial for the murder of Marco, Llanview District Attorney Herb Callison (Anthony Call) brings surprise witness "Dr. Mario Corelli" (Marco masquerading as his late brother) to the witness stand. "Mario" then presents forged letters of threats from Viki to Marco as evidence. Karen convinces her friend and fellow prostitute Katrina Karr (Nancy Snyder) as to the true identity of Marco's murderer, and Katrina directs Karen to a post office box with a letter about the killer. Upon arrival to the post office to retrieve the letter uncovering Marco's murderer, the letter is mysteriously lost and Katrina subsequently hit by car, resulting in Katrina going into a coma. After a month of trial, Katrina recovers and testifies that the father of Tina's boyfriend, Talbot Huddleston (Byron Sanders), was Marco's murderer, exonerating Viki at the eleventh hour. Baby switch and Edwina As the 1980s began, Karen was raped by Brad Vernon (Steve Fletcher), the husband of her younger sister Jenny Wolek Vernon (Brynn Thayer), and confided in Marco (as Mario) as to the apparent assault. Upon learning of her husband's rape of her sister, the pregnant Jenny went into premature labor as Katrina Karr was in-hospital giving birth to her own child. Marco and Karen, now friends again, went about switching the sickly-and-soon-dead body of Karen's niece with the live-born child of Katrina (Kristine Karr) when Karen goes into visit the nursery of newborn children. A distraught Katrina falls into a deep depression while the elated Jenny reveled in being a new mother. Emotionally disturbed with leading a double life, Marco (continuing to pretend to be Mario) suffered a bout of selective amnesia, which prompted Karen to commit Marco into a sanatorium. After being released from the sanitarium, he courted and engaged to marry Banner reporter Edwina Lewis (Margaret Klenck). Before the wedding ceremony could be completed, though, Dorian reports to the Llanview police that Mario Corelli was, in fact, Marco Dane. Marco, his identity revealed, was arrested for identity fraud, incarcerated in Statesville prison, and Edwina proceeded to break off their engagement. After his release from prison, though, Edwina and Marco reconciled and married. Apparently reformed from his criminal ways, partners-in-crime Marco and Karen learned that Tina's (adoptive) father, Ted Clayton, was attempting to swindle the Lord family fortune from Viki. The two devised a plan to foil Ted's plot, much to the chagrin of an out of the loop Edwina, who tells the secretive Marco to move out of their apartment. Marco is later shot in a confrontation with Ted, who was shot dead by Llanview Police Commissioner Ed Hall. As this storyline reached a dénouement, Edwina preceded to enact divorce proceeding with Marco and the switched baby returned to Katrina Karr following the discovering of the baby switch. Unable to sever ties with Edwina, Marco engages in a love triangle between his ex-wife and new romance and sister of Jenny's ex-husband, Samantha Vernon. Edwina and Marco remarry, but breakup and divorce yet again when ambitious Edwina leaves Llanview in pursuit of career opportunities. After a series of other exploits involving Viki, Echo DiSavoy (Kim Zimmer), and Clint Buchanan (Clint Ritchie), Marco eventually leaves Llanview in 1986. He returned in 1989, meeting Viki's daughter, actress and multiple-personality sufferer Megan Gordon (Jessica Tuck), masquerading as alter-ego "Ruby Bright." Clint, shadowing his sick stepdaughter, uncovered Marco courting Ruby. Clint divulged to Marco that Ruby was, in fact, a figment of Megan's personality and the two collaborated in causing Megan to reemerge from her latest bout of mental illness. Marco departed Llanview in 1990 after serving as Megan's manager. ''General Hospital'' Tracy and Sonny Now a private investigator, Marco arrives in in 1992, much to the intriguing delight of heiress , who was in the middle of marital woes. Tracy preceded to engage in an extramarital romance while hiring Marco to investigate the mistress of her husband, , a distant cousin of . Marco, as a side venture, becomes a boxing promoter managing high school student . Jagger, who was dating at the time , had an obvious romantic attraction to classmate Karen Wexler, much to the displeasure of Brenda. Karen makes advances at Jagger which go unrequited, for which she reacts badly. Going into a bout of depression, Karen begins taking drugs and working at the Paradise Club strip club, owned by . Later, when Jagger discovers Karen and Sonny in bed together and learned she had been stripping and abusing drugs, boxer Jagger engages in an altercation which leaves Sonny greatly injured. An incensed Sonny puts a hit out on Jagger in retaliation, only to put the plan on indefinite hold at the insistence of Marco, who urges him to cancel the planned killing in return for a cut of Jagger's boxing winnings. Marco leaves town when Anthony left the series in 1993. Category:Fictional con artists Category:Fictional criminals Category:Characters Category:One Life to Live characters Category:General Hospital characters Category:Past Characters